Idalou ISD to add middle school volleyball

BY PHIL TERRIGNO

Thursday

Jun 18, 2015 at 8:25 PM

Editor's note: This is the fifth article in a series examining participation levels of West Texas high school sports and how the region's athletics offerings, particularly for women's sports, compare to the rest of the state. The first two parts of the series dealt with soccer participation in the region. Part II of this article will be published Saturday and covers the cost and logistics of launching a volleyball program.

Sharon Suttle-McGougan stood up at during an Idalou school board meeting and spoke about sports participation for girls - and specifically, scarcity of playing time for 'B' team middle school girls basketball players.

She recalled approaching a middle schooler that didn't play in a game because there were too many other players waiting for playing time.

"I felt horrible that some of our young ladies were not even getting to represent our school by wearing their uniform and playing with the team," Suttle-McGougan said.

Suttle-McGougan may not have realized it at the time, but the Idalou Elementary School teacher was a catalyst for change in the district.

The idea of adding volleyball as a sport at Idalou - and another opportunity for female sports participation - had been raised previously, but the most recent push that proved fruitful started in early 2014 with a series of Suttle-McGougan emails and school board appearances.

In a progressive move, Idalou is adding a volleyball program that will start with a middle school team for seventh and eighth graders during the 2015-16 season.

If Idalou eventually progresses to full varsity status, it will be part of a West Texas contingent of teams that comprises 8.7 percent of all UIL volleyball teams in Texas.

Volleyball scarcity

The enormous success that Shallowater and Trinity Christian's volleyball teams have enjoyed is not indicative of a thriving volleyball environment in West Texas.

Combined, West Texas and the Panhandle make up 14.4 percent of the volleyball-playing high schools in Texas. North Texas (25.7 percent) has the highest concentration of volleyball-playing schools ahead of Central Texas (16.9 percent), South Texas (15.6 percent) Southeast Texas (14.9 percent), and East Texas (16.9).

"We have a community that's going to support the sport and the team," Idalou athletic director Jeff Lofton said. "They see how successful our girls are in basketball, track, cross country and I think it's going to be good for us all around. Because the success will carry over. We're going to be able to compete really well in volleyball."

In Texas, there are 91 UIL high schools with basketball programs that do not offer volleyball.

The Panhandle is home to 44 percent of those schools and West Texas is home to 9.9 percent of those schools.

Lofton said the program's immediate goal is to grow the middle school program and work towards having two years of high school volleyball team non-varsity status before joining a UIL district.

"Sometimes, you jump in there too quick," Lofton said. "You end up getting hammered. We want to make sure that we are well-versed."

A coach selected

From a pool of applicants that included a former Texas Tech volleyball player, several LISD employees, a Frenship ISD employee, a former LCU coach and several applicants with head volleyball coaching experience, Sarah Horn was hired to start Idalou's middle school volleyball program.

Horn is a recent West Texas A&M grad that was a student assistant on the Buffs women's basketball team and played volleyball at Fort Elliott.

"I think this is the perfect position to be in," Horn said. "A lot of times, the varsity coaches come and the girls have learned fundamentals the wrong way. Starting at the junior high level, you get to teach them fundamentals exactly right. They've never played volleyball. Just building it with these girls, we're going to go through it together."

Horn met briefly with some of her future players in passing, but she's scheduled to meet more of her players at an Idalou basketball camp Friday.

"Coach Culpepper at Randall let me step in at some of his camps," Horn said. "I think teaching is learning. I'm confident and I'm so excited."

All in favor?

In a letter to Idalou superintendent Jim Waller in May 2014, Clay Neff wrote, "If you vote to add a girls volleyball team to our schools athletic system, I would be concerned for the existing programs how it will affect them. Currently, we do not have the facilities nor the resources to handle a volleyball team."

Neff, an Idalou resident with three young children, also mentioned that "volleyball would be taking away and competing with our girls basketball program," which was a regional finalist last season under first year coach Tyler Helms.

"I am absolutely not against adding another sport for girls to take part in, it's just at this time there is no practice facility, there are no coaches, and no real demand for it. In order for this program to exist, the athletic department and school budget will have to find a way to split some of the resources they have in place for other sports that are already scarce," Neff wrote.

Part II of this story will examine the cost and logistics of adding volleyball as a sport.

philip.terrigno@lubbockonline.com

766-2166

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